I have a David Austin ‘Wife of Bath’ with several dozen hips. The hips are very russeted–like an asian pear-- but yellow underneath the russeting. How can I tell if they’re ready to harvest? I want to get them cleaned and into the fridge soon.
Shell a representative hip.
If seeds are completely cream color, hips are ready to harvest.
If seeds have a green color, wait to harvest.
Two of my minis have simular types of hips as yours.
You can’t see below if the hips are orange or starting to ripen. I have learned from Ralph Moore to wait until the hips go as orange as possible and you will get “BETTER” germination.
Here is what I do :
I take a sharp knife and cut off some skin about 1/4 x 1/4 and I can see if it’s orange or not.